Vellum merges the filled form fields and the annotations of a PDF with the page content, producing a frozen document where nothing can be changed or unticked by mistake — useful before archiving a completed form. The operation runs in your browser. The original file is never sent to a server.
It merges filled-in fields and annotations into the page content, producing a frozen document where nothing can be changed, unticked or moved by mistake — useful before archiving a completed form.
No, once fields and annotations are merged into the content, they can no longer be edited or reactivated as interactive fields. Keep the original if you think you’ll still need to edit the form.
No, the operation runs entirely in your browser, and the tool is free. A password-protected PDF must first be unlocked before it can be flattened.
No. Flattening freezes the appearance: fields can no longer be filled in and annotations no longer move. It prevents neither copying the text, nor printing, nor later editing with an editor. To restrict what can be done with the file, protect it; to actually remove a piece of information, redact it.
No, and this is the costliest misunderstanding. A black rectangle drawn over a passage is still a drawing: after flattening it becomes part of the page content, but the text underneath is still in the file and can be copied. To make information disappear, use the redaction tool, which removes the text from the file it produces.
The tool warns you: with no fields and no annotations there is nothing to merge into the page, and the document comes out practically unchanged. Flattening is only worth it on a completed form or an annotated document.
Vellum — free PDF tools whose processing stays on your device.